


you know what your decision is (which is not to decide)

by wordslinging



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, Multi, Oral Sex, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-14 07:13:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11203032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordslinging/pseuds/wordslinging
Summary: They can both tell he's waiting for the other shoe to drop, for it to turn out that he can't possibly have this.The next time Vox Machina returns to Whitestone, it's Keyleth who turns up at Gilmore's door, a bundle of nerves with a bottle of what Grog would call expensive-ass wine in her hand.





	you know what your decision is (which is not to decide)

**Author's Note:**

> Written somewhere in the middle of the Chroma Conclave arc in a fit of "fine, if canon won't give me the bisexual poly triad I want I'll DO IT MYSELF".
> 
> Also, Vax is a needy sub, I don't make the rules.

It takes some time for them to figure things out, given Vax's tendency to jump to conclusions, Keyleth's awkwardness discussing certain topics, Gilmore's desire to respect their boundaries, and the little fact that they're working on saving the world from a conclave of ancient chromatic dragons. With patience and care, their predicament becomes clearer. Vax loves them both but assumed pursuing a relationship with Keyleth meant closing the door on one with Gilmore. Keyleth, still struggling to navigate her feelings for Vax, didn't realize he needed to be told that wasn't the case. Gilmore understands that with things being what they are, he'd have to let Vax slip in and out of his life even if another person wasn't involved, and the balance of holding on but not holding him down is a tricky one.

It takes a devil wearing Gilmore's face to help them all understand each other; Gilmore would give his shop if he still had one for Hotis to have never laid a hand on Vax, but the incident does provide a shock to the system that helps things start to come clear. There are long, honest (though not always easy) conversations and a few nights when Vax knocks on Gilmore's door, but things still don't feel right. Keyleth and Gilmore notice a furtiveness to Vax, as if he feels that he's pulled something over on them. They both have moments with him where everything else falls away and it's just good and right and _Vax_ , fierce and loving and incredibly attentive to detail, but in the moments before and after they can both tell he's waiting for the other shoe to drop, for it to turn out that he can't possibly have this.

The next time Vox Machina returns to Whitestone, it's Keyleth who turns up at Gilmore's door, a bundle of nerves with a bottle of what Grog would call expensive-ass wine in her hand. Once they've hashed some things out and Keyleth's drunk enough wine to loosen up but not dull her wits, she touches her earring and asks Vax if he's busy right now. 

There's an audible hesitation from Vax when she tells him where she is, but then he says "I'm on my way," in a low, husky voice that goes straight to the base of Gilmore's spine.

Keyleth looks at Gilmore, bites her lower lip, and smiles. "Sure you don't want to reconsider?"

Gilmore grins at her, reaching over to tuck a strand of hair behind one pointed ear. Women have never been his indulgence of choice, but this is Keyleth, beautiful and kind and so much wiser than she gives herself credit for, who loves Vax as much as he does.

"I wouldn't dream of it, my dear," he tells her.

***

Arriving at Gilmore's door, Vax has to take a moment to settle his nerves. This is unexpected, and unexpected puts his hackles up, but he trusts them both. The list of people in Exandria whose hands he'll put himself in completely is very, very short; two of the people on that list are behind this door, in this place they've all worked to make safe.

He pushes the door open and steps inside. 

He swallows hard at the sight that greets him; warm, soft light and the two of them close together on Gilmore's ridiculously comfortable-looking loveseat. There's a bottle leaning precariously against the cushions between them and the barest beginning of a tipsy flush across Keyleth's cheeks.

Gilmore holds out a hand to him. "Come here, my bird."

Vax crosses the room and sinks to his knees as he takes Gilmore's hand. No one tells him to kneel, but that just seems like where he should be right now, knees cushioned by a plush rug as he looks up at them in anticipation. He hears an intake of breath from Keyleth; Gilmore just smiles and brushes a kiss on the back of Vax's hand, then holds it in both of his.

"We've been talking," he says, toying idly with Vax's hand as he speaks, deft fingers tracing over his palm. "Trying to decide what we're to do with you. We have some ideas, but you need to tell us if this goes to a place you don't like. All right?"

Vax nods, and has to wet his lips before he can speak. "Anything you want. I--the two of you, I never thought--"

Keyleth leans forward, cradling his face in her hand. "We want you to be happy," she says, softly, but with weight behind it. "You do know that, don't you, Vax?"

Vax leans into her hand, closing his eyes, and nods wordlessly.

Gilmore's hand slides into his hair, on the other side from where Keyleth's touching him, and Vax hears him shift in his seat. "Come here," he says again, voice a throaty rumble, and Vax shuffles forward and opens his eyes to see Gilmore pushing his robes out of the way enough to free his cock, half-hard already and mere centimeters from Vax's face. 

He's leaning forward and opening his mouth before he even feels the tug on his hair, and the hum of approval Gilmore gives at that almost drowns out the softer noise Keyleth makes. Vax wonders how she feels watching this, but for the moment he doesn't pull back to look at her; he's been given a task, and he sets to it.

Gilmore combs his hand through Vax's hair and moans appreciatively when Vax takes him deep, and then he starts _talking_ again, as if Vax wasn't about to lose his mind already.

"You look good on your knees, lovely boy," Gilmore tells him. "Doesn't he?"

"Yes," Keyleth says, and then, uncertainly, "Can I--" Vax hears her shift in her seat now, and a dull clink as she has the presence of mind to move the bottle out of the way.

"By all means," Gilmore says, and wraps Vax's hair around his hand to grip it more firmly before tugging his head back. Vax would whine in protest as Gilmore's cock slips from his mouth, except that Gilmore's pushing him toward Keyleth, now perched on the edge of the loveseat with her legs parted.

Vax buries his face against her, feeling the slickness already leaking onto her inner thighs and inhaling the scent of nature--not like some floral perfume, but _nature_ , wood and earth and a hint of lightning-tinged air. Keyleth gasps above him when he slips two fingers into her alongside his tongue, and Vax lets his eyes dart upward. At first he thinks they're kissing--they're not, but they are close together, Gilmore sort of nuzzling the side of Keyleth's face as he murmurs just loud enough for Vax to hear. 

"Has he done this for you before?"

Keyleth's mouth is open on a gasp, and it's a moment before she can answer. "A--a few times. He's-- _fuck_ , Shaun, he's good at it." 

Vax can't help but grin, both at the praise and the memory of the first time they did this; Keyleth's startled half-shriek the first time he licked her cunt, the way she'd squirmed under him as if unable to tell whether she wanted him to stop or keep going, her hands grabbing at his head to hold him in place when he'd gotten worried and started to pull back.

"Mmm." The hand tangled in Vax's hair goes back to petting. "I'd wager he can do all sorts of imaginative things with that clever tongue and those quick fingers," Gilmore says, and Vax grins again and twists his fingers inside Keyleth because he knows a cue when he hears one.

He'd be happy to keep at it until she comes--can tell she's keyed-up enough that it won't take long--but her hand settles on the top of his head and he hears her murmur "I think it's your turn again," and then Keyleth's scent gives way to the smell of incense and a distinctly male musk and Gilmore's cock is in front of him once more, thick and heavy. 

There's an element of frustration here, at being pushed away twice now when he was just getting into a rhythm, at not knowing which of them he wants his mouth on more and the two of them _not helping_ with that indecision. It occurs to Vax--and incidentally, he's proud of himself for being able to apply critical thinking to the situation with Gilmore's cock nudging the back of his throat--that part of the plan here is them showing him he doesn't _have_ to decide, not right now. Both of them no farther away than a turn of his head, both their hands on him, both of them working together to guide him through what they want. 

It's easier, then, to close his eyes and let himself be handled, to enjoy the changes in sensation and marvel at how they're so different, yet he wants them both _so much_. Gilmore hard and hot as a brand in his mouth, then Keyleth, soft and open and _wet_ , then back again, over and over until he loses track of time and drifts to a place where there's nothing in the world but the three of them in this warm, soft room. 

Until at last, the next time Gilmore turns him toward Keyleth, he does it with a gravelly "I want to see you make her come."

And, well, this whole time Vax has been showing them how well he takes direction; he's hardly going to stop now.

He hooks his hands under Keyleth's thighs and tugs her closer, until she's nearly straddling his face, then closes his lips around her clit and _sucks_. She almost screams, grabbing at his hair and thrusting against his mouth, and Vax draws it out as long as she'll let him before she pushes on his shoulder. He sits back on his heels as she sinks into the cushions at her back, loose-limbed and trembling.

"Mmph," Keyleth says after a minute, eyes closed blissfully as she reaches for her wineglass. "That was... _really_ good and something we can never do in Scanlan's mansion unless we get some kind of magical soundproofing going."

Gilmore chuckles at that, then takes Vax's chin between strong fingers and turns his head one last time. He holds Vax at a short distance, taking himself in hand at the same time, and Vax takes the hint, closing his eyes and opening his mouth just before wet warmth splashes across his face. 

There's another low noise from Keyleth, one Vax knows her well enough to recognize as "I didn't think I was into that, but it turns out I might be?". Gilmore's fingers trail through the mess on his face and Vax chases them with his mouth, getting a playfully light smack on the cheek when he nips at them.

He hasn't given a thought to his own arousal until now, but the relief when he presses his hand against his cock is so good it almost makes him cry. He's just starting to lean into it when Keyleth says "Did we say you could touch yourself?" in a tone that makes Vax grin and snatch his hand away instantly. 

Gilmore strokes Vax's cheek with the back of his hand, fingers still a bit sticky. "You've done well, my bird, but we're not nearly done with you yet. I thought I might watch Keyleth ride that pretty cock of yours while I take you from behind."

The mental image almost makes Vax come right there, and all he can manage at first is a strangled " _Please_." He leans into Gilmore's caress, wraps a hand around Keyleth's bare leg. "I--fuck, Shaun, Kiki, _please_."

"Shh," Keyleth soothes, leaning forward again to brush his hair back from his face. "Shh, it's okay, we're gonna take such good care of you. Aren't we, Shaun?"

"That we are," Gilmore says with the tone of a promise, helping Vax up and turning him toward the bed.


End file.
